Print and the Renaissance Latin Classroom
Konrad Boeschenstein
In the Medieval world, the human mind was believed to consist of three parts: "memory" was understood to be the repository of information which "understanding" could access through "will". Memory was the lesser human counterpart to complete knowledge of all things in God. Medieval education conformed to this preoccupation with cultivating memory. The greater the student’s memory, the more he was like God.
The prominence of memorization in Medieval education has a connection with book technology. Medieval manuscripts were hugely expensive and would seldom have been owned by students. The advent of the printing press and cheap textbooks changed the way the Latin language was taught. The Medieval Latin classroom was a place of repetitive oral memorization exercises designed to leave the best possible reference guide inside the student's memory. In the age of print, each student could follow their instructor using their own textbook at their desk. Because of the printing press, there was also a greater variety of Latin materials circulating. Less time focusing on memory meant the Renaissance classroom could cover more of this variety and cultivate in its students a greater affinity with the Classical world where Latin was the spoken language. The shift from memorization to a text-based approach in the Latin classroom stimulated the re-emergence of the more complex but also more eloquent and precise Latin of Classical Antiquity.
Scroll through the following series of rare books from the CRRS
collection to learn more about the Renaissance Latin classroom.
1. Book of Psalms with Commentary from the Hebrew – Printed by Robert Estienne
(Paris, 1546) BS1425.L3.E8 1546
Before receiving any formal training on the structural differences between Latin and vernacular, every boy would have received his first exposure to Latin from a very young age singing the Psalms.
This psalter in the CRRS collection was printed by a man—Robert Estienne—who was famous as a master of languages. He held the title imprimeur du roi for Latin, Greek, and Hebrew, under which he printed numerous school books. In 1557, he printed his Traicté de la grammaire francoise. This psalter, then, is especially indicative of the prominent role played by the Psalms for learning Latin
2. The Art of Grammar by Diomedes Grammaticus, with The Art of Grammar by Donatus Aelius – Printed by Johann Securius
(Großenhain, 1526) PA6379.D35 1526
When boys (or very rarely girls) were old enough to begin formal education in Latin, they were referred to as Donatisti. Donatus’ simple question and answer format was used in the Medieval period as well, but more often only as a model for verse renditions of Latin grammar books. Verse was preferred for memorization purposes.
With the advent of the printing press, grammar books switched back to a preference for prose as exemplified by this edition in the CRRS collection which combines Donatus with the work of another Classical grammarian.
3. The History of Rome by Titus Livy – Printed by Daniel Elzevirius
(Amsterdam, 1678) PA6452.A2 1678
Once an aspiring Latinist had learned basic grammar, most likely using Donatus, next he would begin to read real Latin texts. Verse textbooks designed for students were popular during the Medieval period, however, when it was time to begin reading real Latin works, prose was much easier. In particular, the works of the Roman historians such as Livy’s The History of Rome, or Caesar’s Gallic War, were valued by the Medieval world as introductory Latin texts because of their simplicity. However, from the Renaissance onwards, more and more other Classical texts appear in school curricula.
4. The Institutes of Grammar by Priscian – Printed by Nicolaus Bryling
(Basil, 1545) PA6642.A2 1545
As students continued to read more difficult Latin, they would graduate from Donatus to the second and more complex major Classical grammar book written by Priscian. Priscian's text remained in use throughout the Medieval period, however, the problem was that it was designed for native Greek speakers. Although it is incredibly detailed, it did not serve well as more than a reference guide to be used alongside more elementary instruction. This edition in the CRRS collection indicates this drawback of Priscian on the title page where it advertises the inclusion of a "most copious" index for reference use.
5. The Art of Grammar by Diomedes Grammaticus, with several other grammar textbooks – Printed by Cesar Arrivabene
(Venice, 1522) PA6379.D35 1522
The most popular grammar textbook during the early history of print was the humanist Niccolò Perotti’s Rudiments of Grammar first printed in 1473. Unfortunately, the CRRS does not have a copy, however, some of Perotti’s text does appear in this compilation of grammar books.
The Medieval world’s answer to the inadequacy of Priscian was the verse grammar book. The age of print brought a new solution: for the first time, Perotti’s textbook offered all of the straightforward simplicity of Donatus combined with the comprehensive scope of Priscian.
6. Cornucopias by Niccolò Perotti – Printed by Joannes de Tridino
(Venice, 1504) PA6507.A2.P47 1504
Perotti’s grammar book was a pivotal moment where Latin education moved from an exercise of memory towards a text-based approach designed for reading Classical literature. The CRRS does not have a copy of his grammar book, but it does have another of Perotti’s landmark works.
Cornucopias is essentially a lexicon of Classical Latin literature. In the Medieval world, the end goal of the grammar teacher was to create doctors, lawyers, and above all theologians. Cornucopias is a testament to the shifting interests of Latin educators.
7. The Institutes of Grammar by Aldus Manutius – Printed by Aldus Manutius the Younger
(Venice, 1575) PA2075.M3 1575
Few men better exemplify the ascension of Classical Literature better than Perotti. Foremost among those who could is Aldus Manutius. Manutius is famous for his wild success producing small, affordable editions of Classical texts for personal use. He is an illustration of how intellectual culture had transcended the formulaic rigidity of a scholastic education.
Fewer people will know Manutius also wrote a grammar book. It too was wildly successful. It came part and parcel with an age where the lessons of the Latin classroom no longer had to imprint themselves into the memory, but could follow the student around just as easily inside their pocket.
LIBRI MUTI MAGISTRI SUNT — Aulus Gellius
(Books are silent teachers)
Memorization exercises truly do work. Without doubt, the Medieval classroom created men who would have been capable of phenomenal feats of memorization which would astonish us today. During the Renaissance, the classroom was expedited by the technology of the printed book. All of the energy previously put into repetition and memorization redirected into a more varied curriculum and filled Europe with more advanced Latinists.